Drona’s Rs 22 crore character

Drona starring Abhishek Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra and Kay Kay Menon opens on October 2nd. It is a film filled magic and adventure and of course a bad guy. The bad guy, Ritz Raizad, is costing the director quite a bit of money to create, in fact Rs 22 crore.

The Rs 22 crore paid for a two-month location shoot at a castle in Prague. Troja castle, built in the 1600s is full of fabulous art, statues and baroque architecture. They also recreated part of the castle at Film City. Besides the location shoot, the special effects and the 200 actors playing Ritz’s army added to the high cost.

Director Goldie Behl told IANS, “Generally, a villain is not so much worked upon but in Drona, Ritz is a mighty character. He is grand and guileful, and to construct this character on screen has cost us a proper fortune.”

Adding, “Ritz is an ambitious characterisation. Apart from the external opulence, there are a lot of subtle nuances that we have worked upon.”

Kay Kay Menon who portrays Ritz really got into the character, “It was not just a character but a universe in its own. He is magical and mysterious. It was very difficult in the first place to get into the world of this character and equally difficult to come out of it.”

Be sure to check out Kay Kay’s Ritz and the rest of the fabulous cast when Drona opens on October 2nd!